A Little More Privacy

It is something that a lot of you will think I harp on about quite a bit... But being as private and secure as you can be online is really a no-brainer.

Aside from all the spyware out there, and all the viruses, and every crafty bugger trying to send you several million quid from Nigeria, there is a "new" problem facing people now.

And I am not talking about Internet Doomsday. Keep your computer safe, you'll be fine.

No, I am talking about all the little bits and bobs that dwell on your computer and inside the web pages you are visiting, tracking you, following you, seeing what you're doing online pretty much everywhere you go. Sometimes they are called trackers, sometimes beacons, other times bugs... But they are everywhere, even the places you honestly don't think you will find them.

Now, without even doing it intentionally, without adding anything into the code, do you know that 0ddness itself (I have now discovered!) has five different sites watching you? Facebook knows you're here (thanks to the friend-connect thing), Google Adsense AND FriendConnect know you are here, Statcounter knows you are here, and Technorati knows you are here.

These are things that, yes, I have added to 0ddness. The social plugin I just assumed was for people to click "Like", AdSense is NOT me, FriendConnect is so other people with Google Accounts can "like" 0ddness directly, StatCounter is my hit counter, and Technorati is a blog catalogue, and I ASSUMED, just a little button.

Five sites, all seeing who you are, where you are, where you've been...

Shockingly, The Pirate Bay (which my ISP wasn't told to block!) has zero on its homepage.

0ddness.co.uk

Sky News

Yahoo Homepage

I heard about a fancy little bit of software, however, and decided to give it a bash, see what's what and how necessary it might be. It's called Ghostery, and can be installed on Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer - though I COULDN'T get it working on the last (shocking). It's free, too, so it's not like you're paying for something you aren't sure about.

Installing it is as difficult as clicking a couple of buttons, and once you've run through the three or four setup screens, you're good to go. I've left the alert window set to ON so I can see just how many people are trying to follow me around, and so far, most sites have four or five - some have lots more mind you!

I've currently got mine set to block everything and everyone because they are all baaaastards mode, but will go through and allow something things... StatCounter, and Google Friend Thingie being the main two, BUT there are well over 800 different "things" that it can block.

Next time you are wondering how it is that the banner ad on the side of a page is strangely specific to the thing you were looking for just this morning, these little tracking things are why.

And now you know.

Sidenote: I should also point out that Firefox has a feature to tell websites not to follow you anyway. I don't know if it works or not, but it can be found under TOOLS>OPTIONS>PRIVACY>Tell Websites I Do Not Want To Be Tracked.

And honestly, if you are still insisting on using Internet Explorer, there's no helping you. Install either Firefox or Chrome, AND make sure you keep everything up to date on your machine. And don't forget the Anti-Virus either!!

PS: If you really ARE worried about INTERNET DOOMSDAY!!! then fret not. The 9th July will be a non-event, much like the other End Of The World scenario that was THE Y2K BUG!!! Read more about it here, and check your computer here.

(Yeeeeah I used the {BLINK} HTML tags! Bring back the 90s baby!)
(I am shocked and saddened that if you are viewing this in Chrome, you cannot see my Olde Skool use of the {BLINK} tags. Firefox works fine though!)
(Aw it doesn't work in IE either... So stuff you, Old Skool BLINK tags. Stuff you)

About Me!

Welcome!

Welcome to 0ddness!

For the newcomers amongst you, this blog is one of my little corners of the web where I generally spout rubbish, rant and rave about minor things, share music I love (and can't stand) and generally put the world to rights from my little corner of the web. I might talk about something I've watched, my family, my aches and pains, an upcoming movie, the news... and then switch to the weather, the crazy idiot I met in the street and the speed of a cat when running for its life.

You don't have to agree with what I say or think, you just have to be polite in your discussion!

Aside from posting here (I would say on a regular basis, but it's mood/brain dependant of late) I also post photos on-and-off on my Tumblr page. There is literally nothing but photos I've taken via Instagram on there, and I am by no means artistic - I just like some of the pictures I take.

You can also visit my Last.fm page to see what I've been listening to while banging around the house. If you think the Musical Monday section is a very random mix of tracks, you ain't seen nothin' yet!!

And if you have eyes, you will also see that you can find me on Facebook (as well as the blog having its own page) and I randomly appear on Twitter just to moan or whatever.

Lastly, a common question I get is "How do I comment on your posts?" On the top of each post, there is a little speech-bubble icon with a number beside it. Click that number to enter "Comments" and away you go!

My Tumblr

Stalky Stalk!

All content is copyrighted by me, Dan English, from whichever date I started this blog, up to and including everything before then.And heck, I'll copyright anything I might do from now on. It's all mine.Don't steal it - please - or else I'll send out the ninja raccoons to attack your genitals.